10 'Alternative Medicines' That Will Do Some Serious Damage

10. Black Salve

Black salve, sometimes sold under the brand name Cansema, is an alternative skin cancer "treatment" that essentially works by eating your face. Sure, you might not have cancer, but you'll also seem to be down a nose.

It is classed as an escharotic - a topical paste that destroys skin tissue. It was used in the 1900s as a last resort to treat dangerous skin lesions before being replaced by other treatments that didn't cause large chunks of flesh to slough off in the supermarket.

If chemo and radiotherapy are considered heavy-handed treatments, black salve is the equivalent of using a hammer and chisel to pluck your eyebrows.